Electric lock mechanism



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. T. NEVILLE ET ELECTRIC LOCK MECHANISM Q8 M W e vs[1| mm MM E M a M wQ M 1 n i g Y B Oct. 20, 1959 Filed July 19, 1954Oct. 20, 1959 NEVlLLE ET AL 2,909,711

ELECTRIC LOCK MECHANISM Filed July 19, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2

James I Neville Del/o M. New'l/e 44 ENVEN TO S BY n 5%,

2,909,111 ELECTRIC LOCK MECHANISM James T. NevilleandDella M.,Nevil le,Sacramento, Calif.

Application July 19, 1954, Serial No. 444,192

' 2 Claims. 01. 311-134 This invention relates to an electric lock and anovel mechanism :for actuating "the electric lock and has for itsprimary object the provision of -a safe and efiicient lock mechanismproviding complete control of a door such as is utilized for homes,business establishments and the like thereby eliminating'the necessityfor keys.

of the contacts are either connected to a control unit or to a doorbell, chimes, buzzer or the like so that depending upon the setting ofthe actuation member, either the door bell is rung or one of the controlunits is activated.

The construction of the invention further features novel control unitswhich include rotary contact members adapted to engage successively aplurality of spaced contacts. Means are provided for resetting therotary contact member either automatically upon closing of the door orupon actuation of a manual reset switch.

Further objects and features of this invention reside in the provisionof an electric lock mechanism that is simple in construction andinstallation, capable of being readily utilized in various types ofbuildings, which is inexpensive to manufacture thereby permitting widedistribution and utilization.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of theinvention which will become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by this electric lock mechanism, a preferredembodiment of which has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings,by way of example only, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of the various electricalcomponents of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the novel actuating unitincluding the switch adapted to be mounted in conjunction with the doorknob or the like; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the control units.

With continuing reference to the accompany-ing drawings wherein likereference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views,reference numeral generally designates an actuation unit utilizing thepresent invention. This actuation unit includes a cylinder 12 which maybe formed of a suitable insulative material such as any of the varioussynthetic plastic materials and which has a plurality of contacts 14,16, 18, and 20 attached thereto. Mounted in the cylinder 12 is a switch22 of the push button variety and also mounted thereon and springpressed by means of spring 24 to return it to an initial position is acontrol lever 26. The control lever 26 is adapted to complete anoperative elec- Patented Oct. 20, 1959 ICE ,having an aperture 34therethrough for reception of a reset switch 36, the function thereof tobe further explained. Additionally, a slot 38 is formed in the cover 30through which the lever 26 extends, the lever 26 being provided with ahandle portion 40. The cover 30 may be threadedly secured or otherwiseattached to the cylinder 12.

As can be seen best in Figure l, the contact 14 is connected to the bell42. Obviously, chimes, buzzer or any other audible lock can besubstituted for the bell 42. Hence, when the lever 26 is in positionengaging -the contact 14, current will flow from the battery 28 to theaudible alarm 42.

The contact 16 is connected to the coil 44 which actuates a core 46which is connected to a spring biased .52 back to an initial position. Aspring 62 likewise is provided for urging the core.46 and hence the pawl48 to a return position thereby enabling the coil 44 to again actuatethe core 46 to successively drive the ratchet wheel 50.

A spring biased core 64 which is urged by spring 66 to an extendedposition is provided with a pawl 68 having a cam surface permittingrotation of the ratchet wheel 50 in one direction while preventing therotation thereof in the opposite direction. A coil 70 is provided forthe core 64 for urging the core 64 outwardly so that the pawl 68 willpermit rotation of the shaft 52 due to the tension on the spring 60until the enlarged tooth 72 engages the pawl 68, the enlarged tooth 72being provided for assuring that the rotary contact member 54 willreturn to an initial position. The operation of the solenoid formed bythe coil 70 and the core 64 is insufficient to withdraw the pawl 68enough to permit rotation of the enlarged tooth 72 past the pawl 68.

One of the contacts 56 is connected by means of a conductor 74 to thecoil 76 of a second control unit 78. Likewise one of the contacts 80 ofthe control unit 78 is connected to the coil 82 of a third control unit84. The coil 70 of the reset mechanism is connected through conductor 86to a door actuated reset switch 88 which is connected parallel with amanual reset switch 90 either of which is sufficient to excite the coil70 to actuate the reset mechanism. Further, the coils 92 and 94 of thereset mechanism of the control units 78 and 84 are connected in parallelwith the coil 70 and are also actuated by the reset switches 88 and 90.

One of the contacts 96 of the control unit 84 is connected to the coil98 of a relay 100 which when actuated excites the coil 102 of aconventional electric door latch mechanism 104 to permit the door to beopened.

In operation, with the lever 26 in an initial position on contact 14,upon actuation of switch 22, the door bell or buzzer 42 will be rung. Inorder to open the door, it is necessary to successively place the lever26 on the contacts 16, 18 and 20 and then press the switch 22 apredetermined number of times so that the rotary contact makers of therespective control units will engage the proper contact to therebyenable the next successive control unit to be actuated and thence topermit the relay 100 to be excited thereby actuating the door latchmechanism 104. If, of course, a wrong number of acti- 3 vations of theswitch '22 is made for the any of the individual contacts 16, 18 and 20,it will be impossible to complete an operative electrical circuit to therelay 100 and thereby the door will be prevented from opening by properfunctioningv of the latch 104.

The shaft 52 serves as a conductor and it is to be realized thatsuitable commutator means 106 as necessary is provided to assure propercircuitry when the shaft 52 is rotated.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An actuation means for a lock comprising a switch having a pluralityof contacts and a contact arm adapted to selectively engage saidcontacts, a plurality of control units individually connected to saidcontacts, saidswitch controlling flow of electrical energy to a first ofsaid control units, said first control unit and said switch jointlycontrolling flow of electrical energy to the next successive controlunit, each of said control units including an insulation disk havingcontact elements attached thereto, a rotary contact maker adapted toengage said contact elements, a ratchet wheel for driving said rotarycontact maker, and a solenoid actuated pawl controlled by said switchfor actuating said ratchet wheel, spring return means for returning saidrotary contact maker to an initial position, a holding pawl engagingsaid ratchet 4 wheel to retain said rotary contact maker in setposition, and means for urging said holding pawl to release said ratchetwheel.

2. An actuation means for a lock comprising a switch having a pluralityof contacts and a contact arm adapted to selectively engage saidcontacts, a plurality of control units individually connected to saidcontacts, said switch controlling flow of electrical energy to a firstof said control units, said first control unit and said switch jointlycontrolling flow of electrical energy to the next successive controlunit, said actuation means further including a lock opening relay, saidswitch and said control units jointly controlling flow of electricalenergy to said relay, each of said control units including an insulationdisk having contact elements attached thereto, a rotary contact makeradapted to engage said contact elements, a ratchet wheel for drivingsaid rotary contact maker, and a solenoid actuated pawl controlled bysaid switch for actuating said ratchet wheel, spring return means forreturning said rotary contact maker to an initial position, a holdingpawl engaging said ratchet wheel to retain said rotary contact maker inset position, and means for urging said holding pawl to release saidratchet wheel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,805,167 Fitzgerald May 12, 1931 1,905,965 Leschke et a1. Apr. 25, 19332,436,809 Joel Mar. 2, 1948 2,561,076 Tassin July 17, 1951 2,677,814Miller May 4, 1954 2,762,952 Bruderlin Sept. 11, 1956

